# Short paywall with trial toggle and reviews: +17% ARPU

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Paywall (App)
- Elements: Free trials, Paywall design
- Date shared: 2025-03
- Test run by: [Vahe Baghdasaryan](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/vahebagdasar/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth/paywall-redesigns-case-studies/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/driver-license-app-short-paywall-trial-toggle/

Replacing a long onboarding paywall with a short one that had a trial toggle, App Store reviews up top and a weekly plan on the main screen raised ARPU by 17.02%. Vahe Baghdasaryan's agency, Paywalls.Design, ran this test for a driver's license test prep app, and it was published on the RevenueCat blog. Several changes shipped together.

## Result

**+17.02% ARPU**

- ARPU: up 17.02%.
- Upfront payments: the agency says more users chose to pay right away instead of starting a trial.
- This is a bundled result. Length, toggle, reviews and plan layout changed together, so no single element gets the credit.
- Not shared: sample size, test length, trial-to-paid or retention.

## Control

A long-form onboarding paywall with features, a forced free trial, social proof, success stories and FAQs. Users who declined were then shown a weekly plan offer.

## Variant

A short paywall with a toggle to opt into the free trial, a 5-star App Store review and testimonial at the top, and the weekly plan shown on the main screen next to a monthly plan marked with 40% savings.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- With a toggle, users who were ready to buy could pay at once, which brought revenue forward and cut trial abuse.
- The app's onboarding already explained the value, so a shorter paywall cut repetition and made the offer quicker to grasp.
- Showing the weekly price next to a cheaper-per-week monthly plan made the monthly plan look like the better deal.
- A review at the top built trust before users reached the price.

## Caveats

Several changes shipped at once, and sample size and duration were not shared; the result was reported by the agency that designed the paywall. Since February 2026, Apple has been rejecting iOS apps with trial-toggle paywalls, so this design may only be usable on Android.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we replace our long onboarding paywall with a short one that has reviews up top and shows all plans on the main screen, then ARPU will rise because users decide faster and more pick a higher-value plan.
- Primary metric: ARPU
- Guardrail: Paywall conversion rate
- Guardrail: Refund rate
- Guardrail: Day-30 retention
- Who should test it: Apps whose onboarding already explains the value well, leaving the paywall to repeat it. On iOS, skip the trial toggle given Apple's current review stance; test the shorter layout and plan display instead.

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Credit: Vahe Baghdasaryan ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/driver-license-app-short-paywall-trial-toggle/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.